


The Owl and the Pussy-cat

by khalulu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Banter, Boats and Ships, Cats, Community: hd_erised, Getting Together, Golden Snidgets, HP: EWE, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, Non-Explicit Sex, Owls, Pets, Pining, Post-War, Romance, an elf in a toga, green peas, moon-cheese
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-03 13:32:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8715859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khalulu/pseuds/khalulu
Summary: Harry, Draco, an owl, a cat, green peas, moon-cheese, an elf in a toga, a few Golden Snidgets, and some messing about in boats.  Takes place 11 years after the war.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PukingPastilles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PukingPastilles/gifts).
  * Translation into Deutsch available: [Die Eule und die Miezekatze](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10022708) by [Nia_Kantorka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nia_Kantorka/pseuds/Nia_Kantorka)



> Dear 8c, your portraits are great (I love the Next Gen guys) and your art is always so fun! (I especially loved Cats and Dogs.) I hope you find some pleasure in this little fic - I really enjoyed writing for you.  
> Many thanks to the patient mods and my wonderful beta, A. 
> 
> Fern and Gabriel are based on real cat and owl buddies [Fum and Gebra](http://www.fumandgebra.com). [The Galaxy Zoo](https://www.galaxyzoo.org), [Green Pea Galaxies](https://blog.galaxyzoo.org/tag/green-peas/), and The Peas Corps/Peas Brigade are also real. The verses at the beginning and end of this fic are from [The Owl and the Pussy-Cat](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43188), by Edward Lear. The author of “I Eat My Peas with Honey” is unknown. There are quotations from Shakespeare’s _Hamlet_ and from Lewis Carroll’s _Alice in Wonderland_ ([The Lobster-Quadrille](http://www.online-literature.com/carroll/901/)). [Moonrakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonrakers#/media/File:Wiltshire_Moorakers_postcard_detail.jpg) is a term for residents of Wiltshire, because of the legend.

_The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea_

_In a beautiful pea-green boat,_

_They took some honey, and plenty of money,_

_Wrapped up in a five-pound note._

“Relationships are overrated.” Draco scowled.

“Possibly,” Blaise replied.

“ _People_ are over-rated.”

Blaise arched an eyebrow at Pansy. “Perhaps this is our cue to leave?”

“No, no,” Draco said. “You two don’t count.”

“How gratifying.”

“I don’t think I’m asking too much. I just wanted to find someone who…”

“Adores you unquestionably but is never needy,” Pansy supplied.

“Exactly.”

“And always agrees with you…”

“Well of course I’d want someone with a mind,” Draco said. “An intelligent mind. Which would naturally lead them to…”

“Always agree with you.”

“You make it sound so unreasonable.”

Pansy laughed and shook her head. “You’d be bored to tears. We have to go now, dear. Do try and get out sometimes, and not just stare at that screen all day. You may even find a heavenly body right here on earth.”

^(OvO)^ 

“Ah, Harry, anyone can get lonely living by yourself. Maybe it’s an animal you need.” Hagrid rubbed Fang’s head fondly as Fang grinned and drooled.

Harry smiled but shook his head. “Hedwig was the best gift anyone ever gave me, Hagrid. I know I could never replace her, though.”

“Aye, Hedwig had a great heart. She was a wise one, too, knew something about raising a boy, like you were then, Harry. But now you know your way around. You could help some newer owl, that’s still learning. Give a younger one a chance.”

Harry held back a sigh. Hadn’t he had more than his share of responsibilities, without taking on owl training? But how could he say that to Hagrid, whose heart was open to any animal, no matter how difficult?

And it might be fun to have an energetic young bird….

^(OvO)^ 

At Eelops Owl Emporium, Matilda Eelops listened to Harry and considered. “Gabriel would be a good owl for you, Mr. Potter. He’s a lively youngster, excellent flyer, quite intelligent.”

“Gabriel?” Harry vaguely remembered a Christmas story of an angel. A barn owl lifted its heart-shaped white face and fixed alert dark eyes on him.

“Patron saint of messengers and postal workers. Would you like to meet him? Here, wrap your arm in this towel, he has sharp talons on those long feathery legs of his.” 

The shop-keeper opened the cage and Gabriel hopped out and onto Harry’s forearm. The bird swiveled his head back and forth, examining Harry from all angles. Harry had to smile.

“I’m glad you don’t carry a camera and work for _The Daily Prophet_ , Gabriel.”

Gabriel shook out his tawny golden feathers and screeched.

“That’s right, you wouldn’t want anything to do with that rag,” Harry said. “I don’t blame you.”

Gabriel blinked at him, and then his eyelids lowered. He tucked in his chin and settled his feathers. 

“Well, then,” Harry said, charmed. “I guess we’re sorted. Let’s go home, Gabriel.”

,,,^..^,,,~

“Draco, darling, what put that sparkle in your eyes?”

“I’ve just been with the most wonderful creature.”

Pansy propped her chin on her hands. “So, what is this paragon like?”

“Bold. Quick. That spark of independence. Those gorgeous green eyes.”

“Oh?” Pansy shot a look at Blaise.

“With black hair - silky, glossy, midnight black, and so soft.” Draco smiled, remembering the feel of it under his fingers. “We look very well together.”

“I don’t doubt it, dear, but what caused this turn-around?”

“I’m tired of living alone.”

Pansy raised her brows. “You’ve already decided to live together? Are you sure that’s wise, Draco?”

“Some people may wonder why I didn’t choose a pure-blood, but when you meet the right one, you just know.”

“After a mere, let's see, eighteen years…” Blaise drawled.

Draco frowned. “I met Fern this morning.”

Now Pansy looked really startled. “Fern?”

“She may be a half-blood, but she’s as smart as any Kneazle.”

“I hope you don’t let her hear you talk that way, Draco.”

“Why would she mind? And I think in some ways a Muggle cat-tail is more attractive.”

Pansy looked blank.

“You know how Kneazles have tufted tails like lions do? I just don’t think it would look right in black.”

“Draco,” Blaise began carefully. “Does your lady-friend have, er, an affinity for cat-suits, or…”

“Don’t be silly,” Draco said. “Fern IS a cat.”

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco was looking at a fuzzy telescope picture from light-years away, categorizing another galaxy, when Fern leapt up on the table. She paraded back and forth over the computer keyboard, waving her tail and stepping on random keys. The screen changed.

“No, wait, Fern. That isn’t an elliptical galaxy, it’s a spiral.” Draco scooped the cat up so he could correct what she’d entered. “And the arms are going anti-clockwise…” 

But before he could complete his analysis for Galaxy Zoo, she jumped back onto the keyboard and the screen went dark. She was always discovering computer settings he knew nothing about. 

“All right, you win.” He stroked her back. “Let’s close the computer. Should we go out to take the evening air?” 

Fern purred extravagantly, stretching up to rub her chin against his, as he carried her to the door.

Outside crickets were calling and the first faint stars were pricking the sky. Fern prowled through the grass. A movement caught Draco’s eye, as an owl swept low and silent over the ground. Fern saw too, and ran after it.

“Fern!” Draco called, alarmed. If this was a post-owl, it was illegal to interfere with it; if it was a wild owl, might it hunt his cat? 

The owl turned and flew toward them. Draco caught a glimpse of the heart-shaped white face – a barn owl. This time Fern took a flying leap as the owl passed by. Draco ran to pick her up as she landed. For the first time, she struggled in his arms as he carried her inside. Outside, he heard the screech of the owl.

“Come, Fern. Here, sit on my lap. No? Do you want some milk? Play with some string?” 

But Fern jumped up to the windowsill and stared out into the night for a long time.

^(OvO)^ 

Gabriel seemed to find his way around pretty well, so Harry had begun giving him messages that required longer trips. That night Gabriel was away longer than expected. Harry reminded himself that Gabriel was still learning, after all. But the owl seemed restless when he finally returned.

Next morning Gabriel flew out the open window without any message, and was gone for several hours. When he returned, Harry was startled to see a parchment in his beak. He unrolled it and read:

_‘Whoever is responsible for this deranged bird, do your duty and keep it under control! It has been harassing my cat and I won’t stand for it.’_

“Is this true, Gabriel?” Harry asked. 

Gabriel regarded him with wide, earnest eyes, the picture of innocence. Harry squinted to read the scrawled signature, and then snorted. _‘D. Malfoy.’_

His initial concern evaporated. “Don’t mind him, Gabriel,” he said. “Malfoy’s always been a whiner.”

He dashed off an answer.

_‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Malfoy. Perhaps you should consider what your cat may be doing to provoke him - if indeed Gabriel is doing anything that could conceivably harm your cat. Which I’m inclined to doubt, remembering the old tale of the Boy Who Cried Hippogriff. H. Potter’_

“Here you are, Gabriel. Off you go.”

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco couldn’t believe his eyes when the blasted owl was back again with a note in its beak. But the signature explained everything. He seized a quill to reply.

_‘Potter - What kind of idiot responds to a request to keep his owl away, by sending that same owl back? Oh, it’s the Boy-Who’s-So-Heroic-He-Gets-Away-with-Everything, teaching his owl to behave the same way. Is it too much to ask to be left alone? D. M.’_

“Go away and stay away,” he told the owl, giving it the parchment. From the room where he’d pent her up for safety, Fern yowled.

^(OvO)^ 

“ _I_ get away with everything?” Harry said incredulously. “Even setting aside the War – where, yeah, he was under compulsion, he’s made reparations, blah blah blah - you should have seen the things Malfoy pulled in Snape’s potions class, Gabriel. Not to mention all the blagging and blatching on the Quidditch pitch. What if he did grow up to be a bit of alright? Handsome is as handsome does.” Malfoy had always looked sharp enough to cut yourself on, and Harry had no desire to bleed. “We don’t care about him and his stupid cat, do we?”

Gabriel looked attentive, but did not reply. He shuffled back and forth on his feet, and glanced toward the window, which Harry had closed.

“Why don’t you stay in for a while, Gabriel? Here, you can have today’s copy of the _Prophet_ to tear up.” Harry really didn’t need to see any more of the article speculating on when he would find “someone special.”

Gabriel seized the newspaper, took a corner in his beak, and tore. _Rrrrip!_ He flung the scrap aside and turned back for more. _Rrrrip!_

Harry grinned.

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco tried to keep Fern inside, just to be on the safe side, though she managed to slip out the door sometimes. Several days passed with no sign of the owl, thank goodness, but Fern seemed moody. Sometimes she sat on the windowsill for hours, looking out. Sometimes she yowled. Other times she began to clamber up to Draco’s shoulders and perch there, rubbing her chin against the frame of his reading glasses. It was awkward, but he was glad to hear her purr. She wasn’t eating well.

“Don’t worry, Fern. I’ll protect you,” Draco promised, gazing at her beautiful green eyes.

 _“MrrrrOW,”_ said Fern.

^(OvO)^ 

Harry tried to keep Gabriel inside for a few days, just to avoid the annoyance of dealing with Malfoy. Gabriel seemed moody, though. Sometimes he would stay by Harry, gently drawing a lock of hair through his beak and making little owly noises. But other times he just stared out the window, hunched and disconsolate, or, worse yet, stared at the wall.

Harry started to worry, and mentioned it to Hermione when she called. 

“Have you thought that they might be friends?” Hermione said.

“Friends? Gabriel and some stupid cat?” Harry snorted. “That’s about as likely as Malfoy and me becoming friends.”

“Cats aren’t stupid, especially if they’re part Kneazle. Remember Crookshanks....” Hermione looked as if she would have said more, but then she glanced over her shoulder. Ron must be there, Harry realized, so Hermione was being tactful. Harry remembered all too well the treachery of Ron’s rat Scabbers, which Crookshanks had suspected all along. It was a sore subject for Ron.

“Yeah, maybe,” Harry said. “Thanks, Hermione. Can I talk to Ron?” 

But Ron, oddly enough, agreed with Hermione. “I hate to say it, but… opposites attract and all that.”

“Cats and owls, though?”

Ron shrugged. “You’re worried about your bird, right? Might as well see.”

“Yeah, but Ron, that means seeing Malfoy.”

Ron looked sympathetic. “Well, it wouldn’t be my idea of a good time, but… you might as well check it out.”

^(OvO)^ 

Harry hadn’t been sure he’d be able to call Malfoy on the Floo network, but the call went through. When Malfoy answered, he looked uncharacteristically… rumpled. He was wearing reading glasses, which were smudged and slightly askew, his shirt was wrinkled, and a lock of hair had fallen over his eye. He should have just looked like a normal, messy person, but somehow…. _You might as well check him out,_ Ron’s voice said in Harry’s brain.

“Am I interrupting something?” Harry heard himself ask, his voice low and husky. His mind had gone on a detour, wondering how much snogging it would take to bring color into Malfoy’s pale face.

“Besides my tea, my work, and my otherwise pleasant afternoon? Isn’t that interruption enough?”

The bite in Malfoy’s voice did not curb the jolt of desire Harry was feeling.

“How’s your cat?” Harry said.

Malfoy frowned as if he suspected a trick question.

“My owl hasn’t been very happy,” Harry said. “Someone suggested to me that my owl and your cat might be friends.”

“Friends?” Malfoy snorted. “That’s about as likely as you and me being friends.”

“Yeah, but maybe we should try it,” Harry said. “Make a play date.”

Malfoy was still frowning. Harry plunged ahead. “Are you busy Saturday afternoon?”

Malfoy gave a minute shake of his head.

Harry had an attack of nerves and found himself staring at his feet. “Good, then, I’ll be over around two, all right?” 

He glanced up to see Malfoy looking at him as if he’d grown another head.

“Right, bye then,” Harry said, and pulled himself out of the Floo. 

He wondered who might have rumpled Malfoy up that way. He wondered how it would feel to rumple Malfoy up. Just gently. Smooth that frown out. Bring some color to his cheeks. His lips. Make his eyes flutter shut and his mouth fall slack and his breath come panting, gasping _Harry…._

 _Get ahold of yourself,_ one part of his brain said sternly. _If I must,_ said another part, saucily. _Though I’d rather get ahold of Malfoy, and have him take hold of me._

Time for a shower, maybe.

A cold shower or a hot one?

He pictured Malfoy, beautifully rumpled and less dressed. Oh. Hot.

Hot.

,,,^..^,,,~

_Maybe we should try it,_ Potter had said. _Make a play date._

Maybe they should try what? Being friends? How did one try to be friends with Potter? And what on earth did he mean by a play date?

Did Potter mean to invite him to the theatre to watch a play? To which show, and why in the afternoon? Or maybe he meant a date to play Quidditch. At least, as much Quidditch as two Seekers could play together…. Draco had a vision of Potter flying, his cheeks ruddy from the wind, his eyes sparkling and his hair wild. 

How was Draco supposed to know what to wear, if he didn’t know what they’d be doing? 

But why would Potter invite Draco on a date at all? Maybe he meant just play at being on a date – a pretend date. To fool the newspaper, or something. That made more sense. 

Well, it didn’t really, none of it made sense. But then, this was Potter, and nothing about Potter was the same as anyone else.

Something landed on Draco’s back, silent but solid. Fern climbed up to his shoulder and rubbed her chin against him.

He smiled, glad to see her energetic again. “Are you a leopard pouncing, my piratical girl?”

She purred proudly.

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco changed clothes three times after lunch on Saturday and then stopped himself. If he turned out to be wearing the wrong thing, that was Potter’s fault for being so vague. That was if Potter even showed up, and it wasn’t just some trick to make Draco feel foolish.

It was two o’clock.

2:01.

2:02.

2:03.

2:04.

^(OvO)^ 

Harry was oddly nervous after lunch on Saturday, though he didn’t see why he should be. He didn’t want to be early, so he waited until just before two – and then realized that Floo travel might be unsettling for Gabriel. He ran to find a cloth to cover Gabriel’s cage.

Gabriel was not happy about being inside the carrying cage – he didn’t really have room to move about. “It’s just for a few minutes,” Harry told him. “The Floo isn’t as fun as flying, but I don’t know the way there by air, even if you do. Or by Apparition. This cloth will keep the ashes off.” 

Gabriel screeched, but quieted after the cloth covering was on. Harry placed a call to let Malfoy know he was coming.

Malfoy appeared on the other side of the flames, looking pristine and annoyed.

“All right if I come through?” Harry said.

“Oh, you’ve decided to come after all?” Malfoy said coolly.

“What, I said two o’clock, didn’t I? And it’s only a few minutes after.”

Whatever Malfoy might have said next was interrupted by a black blur that appeared from nowhere and landed half-way up his back, looking over his shoulder. It proved to be a cat, and Malfoy swayed slightly to keep it from falling. The cat walked across his back to balance on his other shoulder, rubbed its chin against the side of Malfoy’s face, and purred. Now Malfoy’s robe was wrinkled and his hair was mussed. If he’d been wearing glasses, they would be smudged, Harry thought. He grinned.

Malfoy sighed and moved back. “Fern, meet Potter.”

Harry came through.

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco might have known that Potter would be late, but he hadn’t expected that smile. Potter was looking at him with such warm approval, perhaps amused, but not mocking. Caught off balance, Draco smiled back.

What green eyes Potter had. 

He didn’t know how long he had been just smiling foolishly into those Fern-green eyes when he recollected himself. Draco still didn’t know what the plan was – nothing formal, he guessed, given Potter’s clean but slightly shabby clothes – but as host he could always fall back on standard courtesies. “Would you like some tea?”

“No, thanks. I thought we could just take them outside and let them run around, and see what happens.”

_Them?_

“Gabriel might get too excited inside.”

Draco blinked and the broader picture became clear. Potter was holding some big object covered with a cloth, a bird-cage apparently. He was not here to see Draco. He was here to bring his damned owl – yet again! – to bother Fern.

Draco did not have a date with Harry Potter to see theatre, or play Quidditch, or anything else. Draco was not on a date at all.

Or rather, he was. He was on a date with an owl. As chaperone. To his cat.

^(OvO)^ 

Draco Malfoy, not only rumpled but smiling openly at him, was a rare and wondrous sight. Harry lost himself in those warm grey eyes, floating happily, until it somehow all went pear-shaped when he said he didn’t want tea. Malfoy scowled and Harry sighed. Back to reality.

Malfoy took out his wand – was that really necessary? – and stalked to the door of his cottage. As he opened it, he bent down and the cat leapt off his shoulders and ran outside. Harry followed with Gabriel’s cage.

There was a small garden, and beyond that a meadow bordered by trees. The cat had disappeared into the meadow. Harry set the cage down, took off the covering, and opened the door. Gabriel blinked, then hopped out and paused to look around before launching himself into the air. He flew low and silent over the meadow.

A black shape sprang up from the grasses, twisting high in the air, and then fell back to earth. 

“Was that your cat?” 

Gabriel turned and flew toward them, lower this time, and again the cat leapt up, nearly touching him.

“See how he pesters her?” Malfoy said. 

Gabriel circled back, and the cat made another jump and pirouette.

“She’s the one trying to catch him,” Harry said. “If she’s hunting him I’d say she’s a bit out of her league. She’s quite an acrobat, though.” 

He called Gabriel to him and the bird sailed down to land near his feet. The cat ran through the grass and bounded straight over Gabriel’s head. 

Harry laughed. “They’re playing.”

“Why would a cat want to play with an owl?” Malfoy said skeptically.

“Because it’s a challenge? Because it’s fun? Because they can’t help it?”

The cat returned to sit next to Gabriel and Harry watched in astonishment as his owl gently stroked the black fur with his beak. “He’s grooming her. Do you think this was love at first sight, or do you think they have a history together?”

Malfoy shrugged silently. At least he had put his wand away.

“Have you had your cat since she was a kitten?” Harry asked.

Malfoy shook his head. “She was half-grown. We met at a garden party. She had been left behind when a neighboring family moved.”

“So you took her in? That was good of you.”

“It was a very insipid garden party. I was bending over to tie my shoe and avoid eye contact with a tiresome person, when there was a rustle in the ferns and she attacked my foot.”

“Charming,” Harry said dryly, but Malfoy just nodded, looking toward his cat with a slightly melancholy expression. Fern was now sitting next to Gabriel with a foreleg draped over his shoulder.

“I’m sure you’re still her favorite person,” Harry found himself saying. “Favorite non-mouse-hunting being, probably.” Malfoy smiled a little.

“They must train post owls in the countryside somewhere,” Harry added. “Maybe Gabriel grew up nearby, and they’re old friends reunited.”

“Mmm,” Malfoy said. They watched as Fern loped back to the meadow and Gabriel followed in the air.

“Do you want something to sit on, Potter?”

“I don’t suppose you have a spare broom?” Harry said, watching Gabriel fly lazy circuits over the grass.

“I do, in fact,” Malfoy said, turning back to the cottage. He returned with two brooms, one sturdy and stable for long rides, one light and quick for agility.

“Which one?” Harry said.

“Your choice.”

“Are you sure your name is Draco Malfoy?”

“Just pick a broom, Potter.”

“I’ll take this nimble little beauty, then.” Harry swung a leg over the broom and pushed off. It was so responsive that he found himself veering, overcompensating, and wobbling while Malfoy cruised nearby, laughing at him.

Harry didn’t mind. It was just so fun to be in the air again. He regained his balance and started to test the broom, trying different maneuvers until he managed a loop-the-loop around Malfoy. Then he pulled alongside for the pleasure of seeing Malfoy roll his eyes at him.

“You be Gabriel and I’ll be Fern,” Harry said.

“I beg your pardon?”

“You just fly by low, and I’ll start from the ground and try to catch you."

“Why would I let you try to crash into me?”

“No, I’ll just tag or loop you.”

Malfoy gave him a narrow look, then nodded. “No hovering in wait, then, and you have to fly straight up, not forward more than a yard or two.”

Harry agreed and dropped down to the ground to wait. Malfoy came flying towards him and Harry burst up into the air, but Malfoy sped up at the last second. Harry chased him and caught up easily.

“I know I’m irresistible, but you’re breaking the rules, Potter.”

“As if you ever did anything but break rules, Malfoy. But let’s try it again.”

It took Harry a few more tries, because Malfoy was adept at last minute changes of speed and direction and Harry was still learning the broom. But finally Harry pushed up with explosive speed and grasped Malfoy’s broom just where he held it. With his hand over Malfoy’s, Harry was pulled along by the powerful broom, close enough to see how Malfoy’s eyes sparkled, his face pink-cheeked from the wind they made.

That jolt of desire again, drawing him toward those laughing lips….

“Let’s see how you handle my broomstick, then, Potter.”

 _I’ll handle your broomstick anytime,_ Harry thought, reluctantly taking his hand from Malfoy’s so they could land safely. Certain fantasies sprang to mind. But what Malfoy thrust towards him, though long and hard, was just a wooden racing broom.

Harry exchanged it for the one he’d been using, got on, and pushed off. Riding while aroused was…. interesting. Distracting, also. Just as well that this was a stable model of broom. He banked and turned toward where Malfoy waited on the ground. “Come and get me!”

Malfoy whooshed straight up and caught the very back bristles of Harry’s broom. He crowed with triumph.

“You blagger!” Harry laughed over his shoulder. “Comes of all that cheating at Quidditch.”

“Cheating is a skill too, Potter.” 

“Let’s go up.” Harry flew higher, and Malfoy let go of Harry’s broom and flew loop the loops around him. Harry looked down over the meadows and woods and hills. He could see a river glinting. The air felt so good on his face.

There was no point racing on such different types of broom, so they rode lazily for a while, Malfoy occasionally doing aerial tricks. Finally Harry remembered his owl. “Maybe we should see how the animals are doing.”

Malfoy looked startled, as if he had forgot about them too. He zoomed downwards. Harry followed. They found Fern and Gabriel sitting companionably on the grass, a gruesome twosome, each eating a mouse.

“Care for some tea, Potter? I’m afraid I can’t offer you any mice, but I do have biscuits.”

“Sure,” Harry said. 

The biscuits were good, a little spicier and not as sweet as Harry was used to, and the tea seemed especially fragrant. He wondered how kissing Malfoy would be, with the taste of tea and biscuits in their mouths. It was not a helpful thought.

He sighed. “I’d better get back. I told Andromeda I’d come over to see Teddy tonight.”

“How… is he?”

“Teddy? He’s brilliant. Right now all he can think about is Hogwarts. I want to see him while I can, before he starts there in the autumn.”

“Hogwarts.” Malfoy’s voice was subdued. “I always imagine him as a baby.”

“Haven’t you ever met him?”

Malfoy shook his head.

“He likes cats,” Harry offered.

“But his grandmother doesn’t like me,” Malfoy said softly.

Harry wasn’t sure whether that was true. He couldn’t speak for Andromeda. 

Of course, Harry hadn’t liked Malfoy himself. Did he like him now? Or did he just fancy the thought of him all rumpled and pink-cheeked, in Harry’s arms, or his bed?

Harry shook himself. This was not the time and place for erotic daydreams. “Thanks for the hospitality,” he said, and picked up the birdcage. He went to the doorway and called to Gabriel. When the bird flew to him, Fern trotted after, and watched as Harry put Gabriel into the cage. 

The cat came forward to sniff through the bars of the cage, but Harry covered it with the cloth. “Where are we?” he asked Malfoy, trying to decide if he’d rather Apparate or take the Floo.

“Wiltshire,” Malfoy said. “About ten miles from where the Manor used to be.” It had been destroyed in a fire, a couple of years after the war. No one had lived there at the time. 

This was nice countryside, when it wasn’t full of dark wizards.

“Well, er, thanks again,” Harry said. “I guess I’ll Apparate.” He stepped outside.

Malfoy nodded. Fern looked fixedly at the birdcage and yowled. 

“Nice to meet you, Fern,” Harry said. Gabriel began to make owly distress sounds from his cage. Another yowl from Fern was the last thing Harry heard before he Disapparated.

,,,^..^,,,~

“Do you know,” Draco mentioned to his friends, just casually, over dinner, “Harry Potter’s eyes are almost the same color as Fern’s. It’s not wholly unattractive.”

Pansy widened her eyes. “Who would have thought it? Blaise, did you know that Harry Potter has green eyes?”

“Harry Potter? The one we had classes with for years? The one whose picture is always in the magazines? Green eyes, you say?”

“Yes, like Fern of the gorgeous green eyes.”

“Remarkable,” said Blaise. “Next you’ll be telling me that Potter also has black hair. But no, that would be too extraordinary a coincidence.”

Draco rolled his eyes.

“This is wonderful news, Draco darling,” Pansy said.

“It’s not _news_ , as Blaise has been at pains to point out. It’s just something I happened to notice.”

“Wonderful news.” Pansy smiled at him fondly. Draco would have been annoyed, but sometimes – his mother had been gone five years now – it was nice to get a fond smile.

^(OvO)^ 

Gabriel was in better spirits if he got to see Fern fairly regularly, and Malfoy said Fern was happier too, so they’d made a few more play dates. Harry usually brought his broom, and he and Malfoy played catch the Snitch or just flew around a bit.

They didn’t fly far, because Malfoy didn’t want Fern left behind. He was speculating whether Fern would be willing to go up in a basket attached to the broom. Harry didn’t think that would work, because Malfoy loved pulling stunts like looping, so it was just talk so far.

One Saturday Harry was sitting in his living room catching up with Hermione when the fireplace flared green. Malfoy’s head appeared. 

“Hi,” Harry said.

“I just wanted to let you know that Gabriel is here,” Malfoy said.

“Oh, I wondered where he’d got to. Is he bothering you? I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, he and Fern are playing. I can give him a note to take you if you want him back.”

“Actually, it will take him a while to fly back, and I’d hoped to use him before then. Maybe I’d better come pick him up.” Harry turned to Hermione. “Do you mind if I step out for a few minutes, Hermione? I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, do you have company?” Malfoy said. “Perhaps I can get Gabriel for you, if you want to pass the birdcage through.”

Harry went off to find the cage. When he returned, Hermione and Malfoy were chatting through the Floo. 

“I believe Fern’s mother was pure Kneazle,” Malfoy was saying, “Outwardly, Fern looks like a particularly beautiful black cat, there’s nothing about her ears or tail that a Muggle would notice. But she’s as smart as anything. Definite magical instincts.”

“I know what you mean,” Hermione said. “Crookshanks was like that. Brilliant. But so stubborn!”

Malfoy nodded vigorously.

“Here’s the cage,” Harry said. “You’d better pad your arm though, he can’t help how sharp his talons are.”

Shortly afterwards Malfoy stepped out of the green flames with Gabriel in his cage, covered in a green cloth. 

“Oh, thanks, I forgot about the cloth,” Harry said. “Want some tea?”

“No, I’d better get back,” Malfoy said. He raised a hand of greeting to Hermione, glanced about to find the dish of Floo powder, tossed some into the fireplace and stepped in. Harry waved goodbye as Malfoy disappeared in a whoosh.

“How’s Fern?” Harry asked Gabriel, who made happy owl noises.

He turned to find Hermione looking at him with a quizzical smile.

“What?” Harry said.

“Oh, nothing,” said Hermione, still smiling.

^(OvO)^ 

Gabriel and Fern were playing their version of leapfrog, Malfoy was reading, and Harry was lazing in the sun chewing on a grass stem.

“This is so relaxing,” he said. “As soon as I go home people start pestering me again.”

“So don’t go home,” Malfoy said absently. 

Harry did not seriously think Malfoy was inviting him to move in. “Where would I go?”

“The world is your oyster, Harry Potter.”

“People would pester me on holiday, too.”

“Rumor has it that if you carry fern seeds in your pocket, you’ll be invisible. You could give them the slip.”

“Do ferns have seeds?”

“There’s the rub. The seeds are invisible too.”

“You’re just a fount of useful information, Malfoy.”

“And if it’s ghosts, vampires, or zombies after you, I hear they can’t cross running water.”

“So I’ll only have the living to worry about. Great, now I just need a boat. A private boat that takes owls. What do you think, Gabriel?”

The owl flew over, followed by the cat. 

“I guess we’ll have to bring Fern to keep you company, or you’ll both pine away.”

“Where Fern goes, I go,” said Malfoy. “She could never scratch her chin properly on those round eyeglass frames of yours, Potter.”

“All right, you can come. Got a boat?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

,,,^..^,,,~

Draco hadn’t thought about the boat recently. He needed Wuffley to operate it properly, and he wasn’t always in the mood for a trip with just a boat-elf for company. But if Potter needed a getaway, Draco supposed he could oblige. It would make the animals unhappy to be separated, after all.

He explained to Potter that it was a narrowboat, used for canals and rivers. “It originally belonged to my many-times great aunt Winonia Malfoy, a very independent witch and a bit of a black sheep in the family. She got it when she and her boat-elf, Wufflina I, retired from the seafaring life. It was the heyday of British canals then. She probably used it for smuggling.”

“Smuggling what?” Potter looked suspicious.

“Nothing dark, don’t worry. Dark magic interferes with one’s free will, and Great Aunt Winonia was a willful woman and fiercely opposed to it. She spelled the boat not to permit anything dark aboard – I told you she was a black sheep. No, I imagine she smuggled brandy, like any good Moonraker.”

Of course Potter didn’t know what a Moonraker was, so Draco had to explain.

“There was a lot of smuggling through Wiltshire in the old days, and some smugglers had hidden a barrel of brandy in a pond. They were starting to rake it out by the light of the full moon, when the officers who collect excise taxes came by and asked what they were doing. The smugglers played dumb and pointed to the reflection of the moon in the water, and said they were trying to rake up that great round cheese which had somehow fallen into the pond. Then the excise-men laughed at the stupid yokels who couldn’t tell the moon from cheese, and left, and the yokels laughed at the stupid excise-men, and raked up their barrel of brandy. We’re quite proud of that story here, villages fight over whose pond it happened in.”

“Hmm,” Potter said. “So what are you planning to smuggle?”

“Just the famous Harry Potter. When do you want to leave?”

^(OvO)^ 

They agreed on a day, and Harry went home to make arrangements and pack. He didn’t know what to expect of this expedition, but he was curious to find out. Floating along a canal sounded pleasant enough; it was Malfoy who made things unpredictable.

Harry returned on the appointed date with Gabriel, his broom, some clean clothes, and a few other things. “I brought some Muggle money, in case we need to do business with them along the way.”

“I have Muggle money, Potter,” Malfoy said. “I didn’t buy my computer in Flourish and Blotts, you know.”

“What do you do with a computer anyway, Malfoy?”

“Astronomy. Muggles have enormous telescopes, some of them out in space, and they send photos of more galaxies than we ever dreamed of. There’s a group of us who volunteer to catalogue them through Galaxy Zoo, helping to map the depths of the skies. Some of us found these small round green galaxies – we call them green pea galaxies – that turn out to be rare and incredibly active at forming stars.” Draco smiled. “We call ourselves the Peas Corps. Give peas a chance!” 

Never would Harry have guessed that Draco Malfoy corresponded with Muggles by computer, but that was just the beginning of the wonder. This man mapped the universe and looked at the birthplace of stars.

,,,^..^,,,~

Potter was looking at him with his mouth open and Draco abruptly felt foolish. Potter probably thought the whole “peas” joke was childish.

“Do we need anything else for the trip?” Draco asked brusquely.

“Maybe some honey,” Potter said, smiling. “I eat my peas with honey, I’ve done it all my life. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on the knife.”

“Now there’s a scoop. I must alert Rita Skeeter,” Draco said dryly. “I knew you had a sweet tooth, Potter, but that’s ridiculous.”

Potter was laughing. “I don’t really do that, it’s a poem.”

“I could go into business, selling Harry Potter Pea-eating Knives. _‘Eat your peas like a hero!’_ ”

“It’s a nonsense verse for kids, I used to read it to Teddy!”

“Doesn’t the honey get stuck in your hair, though?”

“Shut it, you!” Potter said, still laughing.

“How are you going to make me?”

Potter leaned closer, his eyes falling to Draco’s mouth. Draco’s breath stilled. Then….

“Sorry,” Potter said, drawing back and turning away.

 _Sorry. Sorry, the great Harry Potter can’t kiss_ you, _Draco Malfoy. Who did you think you were, anyway?_

“I’m sure there’s honey in the boat pantry, Potter,” Draco said tightly.

^(OvO)^ 

Harry needed to get hold of himself. He couldn’t indulge these fantasies now – he’d almost spoiled the beginning of a friendly trip by moving to kiss Malfoy, and though he’d stopped himself and apologized, Malfoy was clearly still angry and keeping his distance.

“Er – where’s the boat, then? Which river or canal do we go to?”

“Follow me. The canal’s near here, but it doesn’t look like much,” Malfoy said. “There were a lot of canals around Wiltshire once. Not just the Kennet & Avon, which has been restored, but the Wilts & Berks, the North Wilts, the Thames & Severn… But they fell into disrepair when the railways came in, so a lot of the old inland waterway network can’t be used by Muggles nowadays. Wuffley can still navigate them, though.”

Malfoy had reached what looked like an overgrown, muddy ditch. “Wuffley?” he called. Slowly a long, narrow boat of bright green appeared and water shimmered around it.

Harry tried to make a joke, to cover his sense of strangeness. “A Slytherin-green boat? I should have known.”

“No, not even Fern-green. It’s pea-green like a galaxy. Ahoy, Wuffley!” 

For the first time Harry noticed a house-elf standing in the stern of the boat, wearing a captain’s hat and a toga. He had a grizzled beard and was smoking a pipe.

“Wuffley, this is Harry Potter and his owl Gabriel. They will be our guests. And this is my cat Fern, I don’t believe you’ve met. Potter, this is Wuffley, the skipper of the _Wufflewin_.”

The _Wufflewin_? Harry grinned and extended a hand. Wuffley nodded and shook it, not taking the pipe from his mouth. He seemed to be an elf of few words.

“We’ll just get our things stowed, then,” Malfoy said. He picked up Fern and carried her aboard, then returned to levitate their luggage onto the small deck. 

Harry followed him and got a tour of the neat little boat. “We can expand it, with wizarding space, of course,” Malfoy said, “but the outside needs to be small for the narrow canals and locks.”

“We’re moving,” Harry said. He could see the banks go by out the window. He stuck his head out and looked in front and behind. As the _Wufflewin_ moved forward, the channel cleared and water appeared; behind them, it reverted to a weedy ditch. “How does that work?”

“I don’t really understand the magic, to be honest,” Malfoy said. “But then, I’ve never fully understood how the ship from Durmstrang can come up through the Great Lake at Hogwarts, or how the Knight Bus seems to Apparate. Wuffley can take this boat anywhere there was once a waterway, even if it’s changed course since then, or run dry, or gone underground. When traveling that way, the boat is invisible to Muggles. It may be a form of time travel.”

“House-elves can do amazing things,” Harry said. “Dobby blocked Platform 9 ¾ once, to try to keep me from going to Hogwarts.”

Malfoy’s face changed and he looked down. “I gave Wuffley the captain’s hat, because that was the article of clothing he most wanted. I offered him more clothes, but he’d got used to the toga style from tea towels, and he said it was comfortable.” 

He raised his chin and looked back at Harry. “I didn’t know… I didn’t realize how Dobby felt about our family until he returned to help you escape. It was rather a shock. So when I inherited Wuffley…. He is a free boat-elf now. He chooses to stay with the boat, as a proud descendant of Wufflina I and inheritor of her magic.”

Just then Fern sprang up to Malfoy’s shoulder. She purred. Malfoy closed his eyes and smiled faintly. “Thank you, Fern,” he murmured. “I’m glad you approve.”

,,,^..^,,,~

After an awkward beginning, the trip got easier. Fern and Gabriel enjoyed the boat, and seemed to get on well with Wuffley. The countryside they glided through was pretty.

Wuffley condescended to show them some of the basics of steering and operating the locks that let the water rise and fall, so that when they reached the restored canal and became visible again, he would not need to spend all his time navigating under a glamour. Potter was good at the locks. 

Finally they reached the Kennet & Avon Canal, which connected boats all the way to Bristol. Here the canal was clear and flowing, and full of Muggles living or holidaying on their boats. There were towpaths, and nice pubs at the water’s edge. 

Sometimes Fern scampered along the towpath, stretching her legs, while Gabriel flew overhead. The boats moved at a walking pace, no more than 4 miles an hour, so there was no danger the animals would be left behind unless they went into the fields to hunt. They seemed to understand that they should keep the boat in sight. The only difficulties came when they encountered dogs, but the combination of cat and owl was enough to keep them at bay.

Then Potter got it into his head that Draco should learn to ride a bicycle. 

“Look at all the people riding on the towpaths,” he said. “They’re having fun.”

“They already know how,” Draco said. “It’s only small children who wobble around learning. I’ll look like an idiot.”

“You’ll learn fast. Look how well you balance on a broom; it’ll transfer. Come on. I’ll keep an eye out for a rental place.”

So Draco let himself be persuaded, and Potter was actually right; it was a bit like balancing on a broom, and it was fun. But odd, because there was no vertical motion. It made Draco want to go flying.

“We’re in Somerset now,” Potter said. “I just noticed it on a sign. There was something in Somerset I wanted to see...” He dug out a wizarding guidebook and thumbed through it. “Here it is – the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation. Have you ever seen a Golden Snidget in the wild?”

“No,” Draco said, intrigued. “I’d love to see that. We can’t possibly bring a cat and an owl to a rare small bird sanctuary, though.”

“Maybe they can stay with Wuffley. We can fly out there, we’ll just need some spells to prevent people from noticing the brooms.”

Wuffley was agreeable, so they set out the next morning. It was a nice flight, as the weather was good. When they arrived, though, the witch in charge made them lock up their brooms outside. Potter’s face fell, and Draco knew his own did too. 

The witch gave them a knowing look. “Seekers, aren’t you? There’s a reason we don’t allow wizards to fly in the sanctuary. Despite the best intentions, your instincts will kick in and you’ll try to catch the Snitch, forgetting that it’s a live bird that could be crushed in your hand.”

“We wouldn’t…” Potter began to protest, but then a glint of gold caught Draco’s eye, and Potter’s too, and both swiveled towards it like hunting dogs pointing at prey.

Only when it vanished did they turn back to the witch. “All right, maybe we would,” Potter said. “I understand. No brooms.”

“Just to see them is quite beautiful,” the witch assured them, letting them in.

And it was. The Snidgets whirred, golden blurs, dipping and soaring over meadows and between trees, as Draco and Potter stood gazing upward with gaping grins, like children trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths.

^(OvO)^ 

The boat was tied up, they’d had a simple dinner, and evening had fallen. Fern leapt off the boat and disappeared into the shadows, with Gabriel flying silently above her. Draco gazed after them.

“They’ll look after each other,” Harry said. “Let’s just sit on the roof and look at the stars. Maybe we’ll see one of your pea galaxies.”

“Not with all this moonlight,” Draco said, but he cast a stabilizing spell on the boat and climbed up.

“Where’s Wuffley?”

“He told me he was going to a tavern to talk with some old sea-dogs.”

“There are taverns for house-elves?”

“Boat-elves? Who knows? There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.”

“I’m Harry, and my philosophy has a pretty active imagination. Are you comfortable?” Harry shifted a little. “Here, you can lean back against me.”

They sat quietly for a bit, watching the stars come out and listening to the water lapping against the boat.

“I thought of a poem,” Harry said.

“More adventures with cutlery?”

“No, this is my own poem that I just made up. Listen:

_If brandy’s raked like moons of cheese_  
_And stars are born from small green peas_  
_And cats and owls become dear friends_  
_Then you and I can make amends._

What do you think?”

“It scans and rhymes. Not bad, Potter.”

“No, what do you think about us? Can we….” Harry turned a little, looking at Draco. “Can I…” He stroked a lock of hair back from Draco’s face, which was so close, so close and so open in the moonlight.

He heard Draco take an unsteady breath.

“I want…” Harry whispered.

“Yes,” Draco said, and then he was pulling Harry into his arms and they were kissing.

The boat lurched. Draco leaned back, laughing shakily. “You’re always rocking the boat, Harry Potter.”

Harry dropped down to the deck and turned with his arms extended. “Here.” 

Draco slid into his arms, and they were wrapped in an embrace, kissing. Draco made a helpless noise in his throat and Harry couldn’t bear it, he got them through the doorway and down the steps into the cabin until they reached the nearest bed and fell on it. They kissed and kissed and then made sweet hungry love, little cries of passion drifting out to mix with the murmur of the water and the other soft sounds of the night.

,,,^..^,,,~

In the morning Draco lay in bed playing with Potter’s hair. It was so different from his own, which fell fine and flat and straight. When Draco ran his fingers through the soft chaos on Potter’s head, it fluffed up into a dark cloud. When he stretched out a curl and let go, it sprang back.

“You can call me Hairy,” Potter said.

Draco twisted a finger around a whorl of hair on Potter’s chest, considering. He appreciated the hairiness, but was it really a defining characteristic? Still, it was a more conciliatory nickname than Scarhead, he thought, tonguing a bud of nipple to make up for past unkindness.

Potter gasped.

Draco let his fingers follow the trail of hair down, down, into a warm tangle where something was rising to meet his hand. He stroked Potter’s hot length.

_“Draco.”_

Oh. Draco had never heard his name spoken with such awe, such need. Heavy-lidded green eyes, gazing with such naked want, brought an answering ache of desire in him. 

_Harry._

Oh. “Harry,” Draco said, a tender discovery. And he was drawn up into a kiss, and urgent embrace, and they moved against each other in the morning light.

^(OvO)^ 

Days slid by sweetly until they were almost to the sea. The sun was beginning to set when Wuffley brought the boat into the bay. Harry breathed in the tang of salt air. They tied the boat up, and Fern jumped off, followed by Gabriel, heading for the beach.

Draco and Harry went after them, more slowly. The sinking sun flamed across the sky and water. They watched until it was gone, leaving purple streaks of cloud. The moon hung low overheard.

Fern and Gabriel frolicked back and forth at the edge of the water.

 _“They are waiting on the shingle, won’t you come and join the dance?”_ Draco murmured.

Harry knew he wasn’t much of a dancer. “There’s no music,” he said.

“There’s the music of the spheres.” 

“Which no one can hear.”

“Then no one can say we’re off the beat,” said Draco, turning with a smile. “It doesn’t have to be hard, Harry.” He stretched out a hand. “Just hold me, and move.” 

Harry could do that. He could definitely do that.

_And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,_

_They danced by the light of the moon,_

_The moon,_

_The moon,_

_They danced by the light of the moon._

♡

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can show your appreciation for the author in a comment here or on [Livejournal](http://hd-erised.livejournal.com/71305.html) . ♥
> 
> This story is part of an on-going anonymous fest hosted at hd_erised @ livejournal.com. The author will be revealed January 9th.


End file.
